Arsenal v SunderlandArsenal have had debutants sent off in the opening Premier League game in each of the last two seasons - Koscielny & Gervinho.When Arsenal last met Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium, Robin van Persie scored Arsenal’s fastest-ever Premier League goal (29 seconds).Arsenal have lost just one of their last 17 league games against Sunderland.The Gunners recouped the most points from losing positions of any team in the 2011-12 Premier League.Arsene Wenger’s side didn’t win a single penalty at the Emirates in the 2011-12 Premier League.28% of the goals Sunderland conceded were headers, the highest proportion in the top flight last season.Arsenal scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (12).Arsenal have won none of their last three Premier League games at home (D2 L1).Sunderland have won none of their last seven Premier League away matches (D3 L4).Martin O’Neill has only won one of 16 Premier League meetings with Arsene Wenger as a manager (W1 D6 L9): a 2-0 win at the Emirates with Aston Villa in November 2008.

Fulham v Norwich CityFulham were the only team in the 2011-12 Premier League who did not pick up a red card.Norwich saw the opposition hit their woodwork most often in the 2011-12 Premier League (26 times).Fulham have won eight and lost none of the last 10 meetings with Norwich in all competitions.Fulham have lost just one of their last 10 Premier League games at Craven Cottage (W7 D2 L1).The Whites have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 Premier League games on home turf.Norwich kept just one clean sheet in their last 14 Premier League games of 2011-12.The Canaries have gone 33 Premier League away games without a clean sheet.Norwich have lost four and won just one of their last six Premier League away games, including a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage in that run.The Cottagers’ last two opening day games have produced no goals (for either side) while the west Londoners have won just one of their last eight opening matches in the PL.Three of Norwich’s last four Premier League away games have been played in London and they have only won two of their last 15 Premier League visits to the capital.

Queens Park Rangers v Swansea CityQPR picked up more red cards than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (9).Swansea have failed to score in five of their last six visits to play at QPR.Swansea have never won away at QPR in any competition, losing 10 and drawing nine visits to west London.Jamie Mackie has scored in each of the last three league games for QPR against Swansea.Djibril Cissé played in eight Premier League games in 2011-12: he was sent off in two and scored in the other six.Swansea conceded fewer fouls (318) and were shown fewer yellow cards than any other side (40) in the 2011-12 Premier League.Swansea have only won two of their last nine Premier League matches.Both of these teams lost 0-4 in the opening round of fixtures in the 2011-12 Premier League.QPR are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games at Loftus Road, winning the last five in a row.Rangers have also kept three clean sheets in a row at home; their longest run in the top flight since 1989.

Reading v Stoke CityStoke scored the highest percentage of headed goals in the 2011-12 top flight (39%).The Potters conceded the highest proportion of first half goals in the 2011-12 Premier League (55%).Tony Pulis’ side scored the highest proportion of goals from set pieces of any team in the 2011-12 Premier League (58%).Stoke posted the worst shooting accuracy in 2011-12, hitting the target with just 32% of their attempts.Stoke have won just one of their last 11 Premier League matches.Stoke have won none of their last nine Premier League away games (D3 L6) and scored just three goals in that run.Reading have won eight and lost none of their last nine league games at the Madejski Stadium.The Royals conceded the highest percentage of goals from set pieces of any team in the 2011-12 Championship (42%).Reading are unbeaten in their last six meetings in all competitions against Stoke (one penalty shoot-out defeat) and have won the last four league games in a row against the Potters.Reading have scored a penalty in each of their last three games against Stoke in all competitions.Reading new boy Pavel Pogrebnyak scored six goals from his first six shots on target when playing for Fulham last season.

West Bromwich Albion v LiverpoolThe Hawthorns saw more goals scored in the opening 15 minutes than any other Premier League ground in 2011-12 (11).The Baggies conceded fewer headed goals (5) than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League.Liverpool posted the worst chance conversion rate of any team in the 2011-12 Premier League, scoring with just 9% of attempts.The Reds hit the woodwork 33 times in 2011-12, the most by any team in any season of Premier League football analysed by Opta.West Brom conceded the joint-most penalties in the 2011-12 Premier League (9).Adjusting for three points for a win, 2011-12 was Liverpool’s lowest points total in a season since 1953/54 when they were relegated from the top-flight with (an amended) 37 pts.Liverpool were the first team to miss five penalties in a single Premier League season since 1998/99 (six taken in total).Liverpool allowed the opposition fewer shots on target than any other Premier League club in 2011-12 (132).Luis Suarez won more penalties than any other Premier League player last season (4).Liverpool earned just 18 points from 19 Premier League games in 2012.

West Ham United v Aston VillaOnly relegated Wolves (23) dropped more points from winning positions than Aston Villa (22) in the 2011-12 Premier League.The Villans scored fewer headed goals than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (3), while only Man Utd (16) scored more than new manager Paul Lambert’s Norwich City side (15).Aston Villa conceded the highest proportion of goals from corners in 2011-12 (26%) and were the only team not to net from a corner situation of their own.The Villans conceded the highest percentage of goals from set pieces in the 2011-12 Premier League (47.2%).Aston Villa have won none of their last eight Premier League away games (D4 L4).West Ham have won just one of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Aston Villa (W1 D4 L5).Aston Villa’s points total in the 2011-12 season was their lowest since 1986/87 (36) when they were relegated.Aston Villa have picked up just 15 points form 19 Premier League games in 2012.West Ham scored more headed goals than any other team in the Championship in 2011-12 (23).The Hammers netted more goals from set pieces than any other side in the Championship in 2011-12 (33).

Newcastle United v Tottenham HotspurNewcastle scored the highest proportion of first half goals in the 2011-12 Premier League (50%).After losing six Premier League games in a row to Newcastle, Spurs are unbeaten in their last five against the Magpies, winning three.Newcastle are unbeaten in their last six Premier League home games against Tottenham (W4 D2), though the last two games at St James Park have ended as draws.Alan Pardew’s side conceded the joint-most penalties in the 2011-12 Premier League (9).Tottenham conceded fewer penalties than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (1).Papiss Demba Cise scored 13 goals in 14 Premier League games for the Magpies after joining the club in January.If the league had started on 1st March 2012, nine other teams would have earned more points than Spurs.Danny Simpson made more clearances off the line than any other player in the 2011-12 Premier League (6).Newcastle’s first ever Premier League game, in August 1993, came at home to Spurs, where the Magpies lost 1-0 courtesy of a Teddy Sheringham goal.When playing away from home on the opening day of the season, the Lilywhites have struggled, winning just one of their last eight (one draw) and losing the last three in a row.

Wigan Athletic v ChelseaThere were 16 goals scored from outside the box at the DW Stadium last season, the most at any Premier League ground.The Latics scored 31% of their total goal haul from outside the box, the highest proportion of any team in the top flight.Wigan have lost just two of their last 11 Premier League games (W7 D2 L2), but one of those was a 1-2 defeat by Chelsea.Chelsea have won 11 and lost just one of 14 Premier League meetings with Wigan.Chelsea enjoyed their joint-biggest win away from home in Premier League history when they won 6-0 at Wigan in August 2010.Wigan have lost just one of their last eight Premier League games at the DW Stadium and won the last four in a row.Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games (W1 D4 L4).The Londoners have picked up just two more points than Wigan (30 to 28) in the calendar year 2012.Wigan conceded more fouls than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (455).Chelsea conceded more goals in the final 15 minutes of matches than any other team in the top flight last season (20).

Manchester City v SouthamptonMan City scored the highest percentage of second half goals in the Premier League last season (68%).Roberto Mancini’s side also conceded the highest proportion of second half goals (79%).Manchester City fired in more shots on target (250) than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League.Manchester City dropped just two points on home soil last season, equalling the Premier League record haul of 55 home points (Man Utd 2010/11 and Chelsea 2005/06).City have in fact now gone 29 Premier League home games without defeat, winning 27 in that run.In 16 Premier League meetings between the two sides there have only been four home wins, with seven victories for the side playing away from home.The last player to score more goals in his debut Premier League season than Sergio Agüero (23) was Fernando Torres (24 in 07/08).Manchester City’s David Silva assisted the most goals in the Premier League this season, 15.Man City were the top scorers in the 2011-12 Premier League with 93 goals, while Saints were the leading marksmen in the Championship with 85 strikes.Man City played more passes than any other team in the 2011-12 Premier League (20,860).Just one newly promoted side (Blackpool vs Wigan) has managed to win their opening Premier League game in the last three seasons (W1 D1 L7), while only two have scored.

Everton v Manchester UnitedManchester United scored more headed goals in 2011-12 than any other Premier League side (16).Everton have won just one of the last 14 Premier League games against Manchester United (W1 D4 L9).In the last two seasons, Manchester United have been two goals ahead going into the final 10 minutes against Everton on two occasions and drawn.Manchester United recorded the best chance conversion rate (19%) and shooting accuracy (52%) in the 2011-12 Premier League.Everton are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League games (W5 D4) and they have won seven of their last eight at Goodison Park.Manchester United’s last three Premier League away games ended with a 1-0 scoreline (one win, two defeats).The Red Devils earned more points away from home in the Premier League than any other team last season (42).Nikica Jelavic was Everton’s top-scorer in the 2011-12 Premier League (nine goals), despite only playing his first game in February.David De Gea ended last season with the best saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League (77.9%).Wayne Rooney has scored 14 goals in his last 14 Premier League games.Rooney has netted 10 goals in his last nine Premier League games in August.